On Friday (18th November) hundreds of the north’s most talented designers gathered at the Titanic Hotel, Stanley Dock, to find out who’d be walking away with a prestigious Northern Design Award.
Director of Events, Shelley Mears, said: “I’ve been absolutely delighted with the response to our 20th Northern Design Awards. There were more entries than ever this year and seeing the businesses that had been shortlisted being so supportive to each other was incredibly special.
“I want to thank all those that entered and our judges. I’d also like to say a big thank you to our sponsors, Control 4, and The Cheshire Magazine. It was absolutely the best yet. Now we’re really excited to start preparing for 2023!”
The judges, including interior design expert and TV presenter George Bond and former BIID President, Susie Rumbold, commented on the particularly high standard of entries, and Alan West, MD of Trombe, who has been a long-term supported of the awards, gave an impassioned speech thanking Shelley Mears for the work that she’s done to support and promote northern designers and architects over the years.
Over the past 20 years, the Northern Design Awards have been judged by some of the biggest names in the design world.
Judges in previous years have included Red or Dead founder Wayne Hemingway and George Clarke of BBC’s ‘Restoration Man’ and ‘Amazing Spaces’ as well as broadcaster, Linda Barker, who said: “No longer are our creatives in the grip of London elitism – this event demonstrates that those in the north are every bit as important and vibrant as the capital’s fat cats!”
Every year, Shelley and her team seek out striking venues (including the Devonshire Dome in Buxton, Manchester’s stunning Monastery and the Chester Grosvenor) that will provide a suitably stylish setting for the awards. When planning the 20th awards event, Shelley chose Liverpool’s iconic Titanic Hotel, saying: “We last held the awards in Liverpool in 2016 at this very venue. It’s such a commanding and impressive space with such history. Our guests were so wowed by it, that it seemed an easy choice when we made the decision to bring the awards back to Liverpool for 2022.”
During the awards ceremony, artwork by former Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year contestant, Emma-Leone Palmer, was on display. Emma has a host of high-profile supporters, including Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen (who has been involved with the Northern Design Awards in previous years) and who says that the artist: “has absolutely captured the now but done it with the flawless technique of a classicist.”
Having built the Northern Design Awards from a small event with a local following to one of the key dates in the design diary, Shelley says she has big ambitions for next year’s event and is keen to continue to build upon the success of the awards, building a growing community of talented designers who all support and champion each other.
Website: https://www.northerndesignawards.com/
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